Livingston County Michigan Planning Department

Livingston County is now accepting applications for a new Recovery Zone Bond Financing Program which may assist local government and private sector development projects. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) authorized counties to issue Recovery Zone Bonds to facilitate economic development projects in areas declared “recovery zones”. On March 1, 2010, the Livingston County Board of Commissioners designated all of Livingston County as a Recovery Zone. Now, projects throughout Livingston County may be eligible to access financing through this bond program with lower interest rates.

The Recovery Zone Bond program allows Livingston County to provide access to tax exempt financing for projects that would historically not qualify. Recovery Zone Bonds are private activity bonds and allow private sector, businesses and companies and developers to access the tax exempt municipal bond market to lower their borrowing costs. The bank loaning the money receives a bond designation that exempts the bank from paying federal and state taxes on the interest accrued over the life of the loan. This allows the bank to offer a reduced interest rate for the loan. Livingston County has been allocated access to $15,844,000 in Recovery Zone Economic Development Bond financing for public projects and $23,767,000 in Recovery Zone Facility Bond Financing for private sector projects. Any and all costs associated with the processing and distribution of Recovery Zone Bonds must be borne by the applicant. Livingston County will not pledge its full faith and credit for Recovery Zone Bond projects.

An application and project selection criteria for this program is attached for your review. It is also available on the Livingston County Department of Planning and Economic Development Council of Livingston County websites. We encourage applications from private sector companies and municipalities with projects that are shovel ready (ready within 90 days after bonding is complete). The bond program ends December 31, 2010 and Livingston County encourages applicants to apply quickly. If bonds are not issued within 90 days after the allocation is given, it will expire and go back into the allocation pool for possible distribution to another qualified applicant.

If you have questions, please feel free to contact: Email: Planning@co.livingston.mi.us

Recovery Zone Economic Development Bonds